•RAPHAEL's first Hearts of Space album, the ingeniously titled Music to Disappear In,
has become a word of mouth phenomenon in the new age alternative market, with
sales doubling each year since its mid-'88 release and no end in sight. Executive
producer STEPHEN HILL tapped veteran new age engineer/producer WARREN DENNIS
KHAN (credits include CONSTANCE DEMBY, Radhika Miller, Aeoliah, Georgia Kelly,
and dozens of others) to produce RAPHAEL's new recording. The hardest part was
convincing the artist to temporarily give up his comfortable lifestyle, split between a
Big Sur music retreat on the California coast and his permanent residence on the
island of Maui. Once in the studio, Dennis reports, everything went very smoothly.
About half the new music falls into the "transcendental romantic" genre. Sweeping
grand piano, ethereal strings and floating chorales develop the emotional content
and imagery first popularized by late 19th century composers and more recently by
Vangelis and Yanni. Nestled within this music at the center of the album is Raphael's
intuitive intermixture of European gypsy, Middle Eastern, and Indian modal trance
dances. Guest soloists inlclude STEPHEN COUGHLIN on flutes and bansuri, vocalist
Sophia, and violinist TERRI STERNBERG, along with a rhythm section of Northern
California hand drummers. Raphael describes the final three pieces - "Laxshmi,"
"Tantra," and "Heaven" as "Mother, Mistress, and Madonna -- three aspects
of the feminine creative spirit."
